Over a fifth of owners of the UK’s smallest businesses feel anxious about completing their Self Assessment (SA) tax returns, according to research carried out by YouGov on behalf of online accounting provider FreeAgent.
In a poll of over 500 owners of companies with five or fewer members of staff, 21% said that they were anxious about completing their tax return, while 5% said they were terrified - with just 35% saying that they felt confident about the process.
The poll also shows that 56% of those surveyed admit that they will either pay a professional bookkeeper or accountant to complete their return for them (52%), or ask a friend or family member for help (4%).
Many often leave submission as late as January, with 46% estimating they’ll complete their returns within the month before the deadline, 16% within the final week.
Ed Molyneux, FreeAgent CEO, said that the survey results showed that SA remains a major cause for concern for many business owners, despite HMRC’s commitment to making the process as easy and hassle-free as possible.
He said: ‘The whole point of Self Assessment is that it should be as simple and stress-free as possible, and it clearly isn’t for many business owners. Self Assessment is supposed to be an easy process that anyone can do, yet more than half say they’ll get an accountant or friend to help them - which suggests that the government may need to consider making changes to ensure the process is easier.
‘As more small business owners turn to online accounting for managing their finances, I believe tax season will become a far less stressful and worrying time - which, in turn, will enable people to focus on running and growing their businesses.’
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